Running Away Helps, But It’s Not the Answer.

The afternoon matches began.

The sound of magic clashing echoed, along with the massive cheers from the audience that nearly shook the waiting room.

It was Aria versus Ellie. Contrary to my worries, Aria was putting up a fierce fight, and the audience’s cheers continued endlessly.

Indeed, a duel between magic departments would be the most interesting match for the audience. All sorts of magic were unleashed, making it almost dizzying to watch.

Ellie, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, hadn’t changed much from before. She seemed a bit more detached, but that could have been due to the special circumstance of the duel.

Aria fought valiantly, but the result was as I expected: Ellie’s victory.

Ellie created a massive pillar of fire that engulfed the entire arena, and as she gracefully descended from the air, the arena erupted in cheers.

Even I was purely impressed by the sight, so it was obvious how it would look to the average person.

Ellie grabbed Aria’s hand, who had been eliminated, and helped her up, receiving applause from the audience until the very end as she left the stage.

The next match was Lacar’s. It was against an alchemy department student named Ethelmund. I heard he was the top student in the alchemy department, but it was the first time I’d heard of him.

As I watched the wizards repairing the arena, waiting for the match to begin, the waiting room door opened.

Thinking it was Aria returning after her match, I casually turned my head toward the door, and my eyes met someone in the air.

Beautiful obsidian-like eyes formed an arc. As Ellie approached me with a faint smile, the cheers and murmurs of the audience that I had been hearing faded away.

My body acted on its own, as if trying to focus solely on Ellie.

“Ross, it’s been a while.”

Ellie greeted me with a bright smile, and I had so much I wanted to say to her.

How she had been, if anything had happened lately. Those words swirled in my mouth, but I suppressed them and replied with a nonchalant voice.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

It suddenly occurred to me that it sounded like something an ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend would say.

To think that the guy who had a crush on her was saying something like an ex-boyfriend, there was nothing more pathetic than that.

I let out a self-deprecating laugh, and Ellie tilted her head with a puzzled expression, then gave me her usual bright smile.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of amazing rumors about you lately? I never would have imagined it. Ross as the top student in the combat department!”

“You’re the top student in the magic department, too.”

At my immediate reply, Ellie smiled prettily and answered in a playful voice.

“Well, I’ve always been a bit good at it~”

It was an undeniable statement. Ellie took another step closer to me as I nodded in agreement.

My heart fluttered as Ellie came close enough for me to feel her breath.

Could there be another reason for Ellie’s actions? My mind tried to interpret Ellie’s actions as it pleased.

“How have you been lately? How’s your body?”

I finally stopped the nonsense and came to my senses when I saw Ellie looking up at me with a worried voice.

I didn’t understand Ellie’s words and stared at her with a slightly dumbfounded expression, and Ellie sighed and said.

“I’m talking about the amnesia! I feel like I’m lying, so I’ve been avoiding Roel oppa lately!”

I finally realized what Ellie was talking about when I saw her pouting lips.

Ellie believes that I suffered from amnesia because I fell into Bella’s trap and underwent harsh interrogation.

It was a misunderstanding, but in the current situation, that misunderstanding was helpful to me, so I was leaving it as it was.

“…It’s the same.”

Feeling a pang of conscience, I lied with a nonchalant voice. Ellie lowered her gaze with a gloomy expression, and after a long time, she looked up at me without a word.

I couldn’t help but fix my gaze on Ellie’s face, her eyes filled with anticipation.

“How much do you remember about me?”

My reflection was fully captured in her obsidian-like eyes. At that sight, the ugly desires within me began to seethe.

A strong desire to possess Ellie. An insidious obsession that only my name should come out of those lips filled my mind.

I pinched my thigh so Ellie wouldn’t notice, and I regained my senses and answered.

“Just that you were my childhood friend… I don’t remember anything before entering the academy.”

“Is that so…?”

Ellie’s expression seemed both disappointed and satisfied, and she suddenly grabbed my hand.

The instincts I had suppressed writhed, trying to break free from control at Ellie’s soft and warm touch.

“You’ve forgotten that you used to like me, too?”

“…Yeah.”

I lied and nodded. Reason advised me to leave the waiting room right now, while instinct told me to hug Ellie immediately, and the two collided in my head.

Was I weighing Luna and Ellie in my heart? I felt disgusted with myself and bit my lip.

Ellie, who was watching me, gave a gentle smile and whispered softly.

“That’s strange? The way you looked at me even after entering the academy was the same as before?”

Ellie smiled brightly. She gently stroked the back of my hand with her finger.

Her actions were like soothing a sulky child, and ridiculously, a strange sense of anticipation settled in a corner of my heart.

Then, it suddenly occurred to me that Ellie was supposed to be quick-witted.

Right, you already knew my feelings from before. You’re probably aware of the emotional turmoil I’m feeling right now.

“You still like me. Don’t you?”

This wasn’t a question. It was just a series of steps to confirm the truth. I felt a pain as if I had been hit hard with a hammer in my heart at Ellie’s words.

The feeling towards Ellie felt so accurate and natural that I felt guilty as if I had betrayed Luna.

At the moment I was about to reflexively answer Ellie’s words. Ross’s words to me suddenly came to mind without context.

I don’t know why that memory suddenly came to mind.

Could it be that the Ross inside me made me think of it? If so, it was a good help.

Now his opinion doesn’t matter. Regardless of what the past self did, now that I am Ross, I am the one who makes the choice, Ross said.

I didn’t think it was important at the time, but the Ross inside me is probably a greater person than I am.

I felt like he had deliberately said those words to me as if he had predicted this situation.

The more I pushed the feelings for Ellie to the previous Ross’s feelings, the harder it became to draw the line as a price.

Running away helps, but it wasn’t the answer.

With a deep sigh, I looked at Ellie.

Let’s not run away.

Even if I had to reveal this embarrassing feeling, I had to make a choice now.

Luna’s pretty smile came to mind. A warm feeling in one corner of my heart pushed away the old, ugly possessiveness and revealed itself.

The feelings for Ellie were just remnants of emotions that the previous Ross had left deep in my heart. Now it was time to let them flow away and fill them with something new.

From the moment I became lovers with Luna, I had already decided the direction of my heart. Like Ross said. Now it’s my choice.

“No, not anymore.”

Ellie’s shoulders flinched at my words. I suppressed the surging emotions and continued, looking at Ellie, who was blinking as if to see if what she heard was true.

“I have someone I like.”

Ellie’s eyes widened at my words. She was so shocked that she even opened her mouth slightly and asked back with a dumbfounded expression.

“Huh…? What, what do you mean?”

“Someone I want to treat well and someone I don’t want to disappoint. Now she is the most important person to me.” I paused for a moment. I took a deep breath and spoke with the feeling that it was genuine.

“I like her a lot.”

Ellie closed her mouth for a moment. Ellie, who was looking at me as if observing me, soon realized that I was serious. She rattled off words full of embarrassment in a trembling voice.

“I, I see. That’s, that’s good. Yeah, that’s right….”

Ellie seemed very embarrassed. She probably never expected me to say something like this.

Well, it’s hard to adapt because the Ross that Ellie knew wasn’t this kind of person.

As she muttered to herself, looking so anxious that she seemed insecure, I couldn’t help but raise my hand, wanting to stroke Ellie’s drooping head and comfort her.

But my hand didn’t reach Ellie’s head. Because I didn’t have the right to do that.

I moved my hand to my face and wiped it once, then spoke in a sighing voice to completely draw a line with Ellie.

“You said it, didn’t you? To forget all the sad memories and sad relationships… and start a new life at the academy.”

Ellie raised her head and looked at me. For some reason, I had the illusion that her eyes were watery.

“Y, yeah…. That’s right, I did….”

“I started a new life as you advised. I met a good person, and I became lovers with someone I like.”

“Huh…?”

I smiled at Ellie, who was making a dumbfounded expression as if she didn’t understand my words.

“I know you’ve been burdened because of the feelings that were hard to accept. I’m sorry. I’ll cheer for you to get along with hyung in the future. Whatever happens, we’re friends for life.”

I should have done this from the beginning. I shouldn’t have run away from my ugly heart and possessiveness towards Ellie, but faced it.

I realized too late that those actions were something I shouldn’t have done to Ellie and Luna.

I had to help Roel accept Ellie’s heart by confessing what I had done so that Ellie wouldn’t have a hard time between me and Roel anymore.

But Ellie seemed to be greatly shocked by my words, and her beautiful obsidian eyes were swirling with shock and doubt.

“Friends for life….”

I was puzzled by Ellie’s appearance as she lowered her gaze powerlessly and muttered to herself, but at the call of a faculty member who opened the waiting room door, I had to prepare for the next match.

“I’m going to go play the game. See you later.”

Leaving behind Ellie with a complicated expression, I followed the faculty member and left the waiting room.